hukturn

Swing a deal. Give her something she really wants in exchange for something you want. In the end, she is probebly going to get what she wants anyway, so you may as well try to get a few skydives out of it.

I was thinking about buying a new closing loop this spring. Maybe even a matching pull up cord.

I must disargee, Billvon...things to look for: A good rigger to evaluate a rig you are considering. Many very experienced jumpers overlook or are unaware of very important aspects of gear. Do not ever trust the seller. Go to YOUR chosen rigger. If your posted information is correct, I would not advise anyone of your experience level to evaluate a rig. I would ask that you be involved and learn, but not truly make a determination of air-worthiness. My first rig was a double pin mirage, 28' Phantom and a Raven III. I paid $750 and I was skydiving. Edit; I just want to add, Billvon, that your last post implies that he evaluate then include a rigger. Whereas I believe the inverse is a better approach.

Speaking from a lifetime of farming and nearly two decades of skydiving, I will take beans, anyday. They both suck, but corn will cut. Corn is also taller which hinders landing and depth perception.

Well, to put it in perspective, are we talking about skydiving gear or are we talking about fashion? Used gear is not too terribly expensive and certainly much less in comparison to the gear in other sports. But, I think that Aggie Dave hit on a good point. We may be experiencing a slight decline simply because other things are expensive. If most people have to choose between bread and a reserve, they will go with the bread.

Now these ideas are easy and I like them. What I want to know is how to just get your "asshole supervisor" fired. Maybe that should be another thread?

Nice. I painted murals on both of my son's walls. In my oldest, it is all about Dr. Seuss. In my youngest son's (due in Jan 2007), I used 64 Zoo Lane (kids cartoon). So, I know it takes alot of work. Here are three pics of my 1st sons room. If you wanna see the other room, I can post. Great job!

Personal opinion, I would not even recommend the booties for a while. At 97 jumps, there is still alot to figure out. One thing to understand is that the difference is more often made in the indian, not the arrow.

Lots of money spent on figuring things out, but I was nurtured along the way. In fact, for a static line prodigy, I advanced quickly. But, my main skydiving mentor taught me that the best way to learn it is to teach it. I really believe in that and I always try to give back.

Mine is not either. PD143R and a Sabre 135. My reasoning is go with what can get you to the ground safely. A main is a toy, the reserve saves your life. After a reserve ride, you are normally low, probably going to land out and your adrenaline is red lining. One of the last things you want to do is have to set down your 1:1.8 F111 7 cell into a back yard pool party.

Or you could abandon the though of getting paid for jumping and simply try to minimize costs. I know there are several Military Freefall clubs out there. I don't know of them all but some examples are in Vincenza, Italy, Korea, Ft. Bragg (82d club and Green Beret Club), Ft. Campbell, et cetera. In essence, you pay a minimal fee per month (I believe I ised to pay about $25/month) and jump like hell on militart DZ's from military aircraft. We would have ops about twice per month for 8 hour blocks.

Gemeni makes a really good point. Your frequency averages less that 1 jump per week (and I know you have not jumped every week). That could be a strong contributore. But, how much attention have you paid to the emotion. I ask because often anxiety can be confused as fear. I must say that after 16 years ib the sport, I often experience a slight anxiety. It does not really occur until close to jump run and not on every jump. More often when pressured for higher performance, et cetera. But, I also belive this helps to keep me alert.

Thank you for at least trying to see my point. I am not asking anyone to adopt it, but it is not entirely invalid. Maybe we do know different people. And, I will admit that the tunnel rats themselves have changed. They were more of a counter culture ten years ago. Whereas, tunnelling has become a training ground these days. I do not believe thet the tunnel time itself causes people to downsize too quickly. I do believe that it can cause an inaccurate perception of ones abilities. That, in turn, can transecend into other aspects of our lives. When combined with peer pressures (a very valid part of young people lives) the tendency is increased for foolish decisions. Just because a kid can win at his Nintendo race car game does not mean he can drive an indy car safely. A wind tunnel is a simulator and lacks some integral aspects of the sport of skydiving.

I am not too terribly familiar with the Psycho pack. Seen it, but never done it. Why not try a stack pack without rolling the nose. Also, keep the slider about 1" off of the attachment points. Like someone else said, I would look into the size of the slider and I would probably also consider larger slider gommets and brass-vs-steel grommets.

Enjoy it. My first rig was a double pin Mirage (Thanks MEL) with a Raven III and a 28' Phantom. My jumpsuit was a hand-me-down (thanks Patrick) pair of mechanics coveralls with sewn on grippers. But...I was skydiving. Have fun!!

"No" I will say it as I wish. "Yes" I would be fine with "bringing it to you" "No" your position is not more valid than ayone elses on this board Whether or not you realize it, you are just taking the opposing position. It is not personal, it is debate. So, lose the personalization and lets get on with the discussion. Like it or not, the tendency is real. It is not bashing them, it is raising a point. Whether you realize it or not (and with your reported 55 jumps in 3 years, I doubt it), the sport has evolved. I hope they go on to do great things. If anyone believes that young men have no egos...wake up. If people believe egos do not correspond to high performance canopy accidents, wake up. All I am trying to say is that people need to maintain balance between their freefall abilities andtheir canopy piloting skills. A great example is my wife. A helluva big way skydiver and a competent canopy pilot. But, her freefall abilities progressed (with no tunnel time) much more rapidly that her canopy skills. At 100 jumps, she did the Jevelin 100 way. With only 500 jumps, she did the Women's world Record in 1999. But, her canopy skills were disproportionate. She was not unsafe, but put a 21 year old boy in that same position. Think he will be conservative? I do not mean to pick, but, let's find some references... Charlie Mullins? How was he wing loading at age 18? A realatively good pilot, but ego driven at such a young age.

In actuallity, I am not out to judge them. Everyone gets a fair and equal shot. But, reflecting on "tunnel rats" who I have known in the past, the tendency is very real. The likelihood of someone actually developing their freefall skills to a high point then taking on a more docile canopy is rare. In fact, probably even more so with males in the sport. Role models will be the key. But, just like parents, you must let go at some point. So, then who are they exposed to? Well, with high end freefall skills, they are exposed to the high end skydives. Now, measure the number of people on high end skydives who are wing loading at 1:1. Not many, huh?!? Now, of those who are loading higher than 1:1,how many are participating in high performance landings? While unmeasured, I tend to say 75%. So, now they are on the cool skydives, now they are "keeping up with the Jones'" and all the while trying to be cool. Yep, guess what, males 20-30 want to be cool. What is cool in our sport these days? You guessed it...swooping. Put it into proportion...how many skydivers know how to effectively spot these days? Few. While just an example, it is indicative of our lack of promoting serious aspects of our sport in lieu of promoting the fun aspect. To some degree, we have lost perspective. I hope these kids do not get themselves into any trouble. But, I also think that tunnels can cause a disproportionate advancement which can lead to problems. JMHO.

Why a digital? Why not a regular old altimaster? Digital requires reading which can be more difficult than simply referencing a dial on the altimaster. Additionally, a dial can be read by others on your load. Just my perspective.

Yeah...they will most likely be shit hot freefallers without any idea how to get to the ground safely. Their freefall skills will be more in line with someone with thousands of jumps. Then, they will feel pressured to jump higher performance canopies performing more radical maneuvers. But, their canopy skills will be short. Impact on the sport...more likely question would be what will be their impact with the ground.

Yup...you are right. For some reason, I was assuming that the PCIT was occurring @ pull altitude. Totally sorry. But, if the PCIT occurred @ 2.5-3.5K, time would be very limited. Thus, high speed emergency procedures would be applicable, IMO.

Pearl Harbor / USS Arizona Memorial is perhaps the most solemn and humbling place I have ever visited. Simultaneous with the American tours, there are Japanese tours and I wondered what they were saying. As catastrophic as we view it, it was an act of military genius. Remember, only the victors get to write the history. So, history is always one-sided.

282...glad I quit drinking 16 years ago or I might score higher.

Do not ever touch someones rig without request. I am one of those people. I check my own pin, I check my own gear. There are only a few select people I trust enough to handle my gear. In 16 years of skydiving, I have only even used 5 riggers. What if he wantd the pin set half way for a reason. You may be familiar with the rig but you may nto be familiar with the jumpers preferences or individual rig nuances. If you think you see something wrong, say something...don't just reach.

How about...a PCIT is not going to slow your fall rate to a surivial range. It is a fast malfunction. If you normally pull at 2.5-3.5K, time is limited. Do most people really believe you have time for barrell rolls, time to sit up, et cetera? What happened to; pull...pull at the proper altitude...pull stable? Personal choices, I guess. The pilot must evaluate what is happening and make the best decision for themselves.

Ditto. Manual spotting by the jumper is highly under-rated these days. Instead of looking for ways out of problems, wouldn't we do better by looking for ways not to get into problems?